If you haven’t yet discovered , well now is the time!
Pinterest is a wonderful service for visually cataloging the beautiful and clever discoveries that roll across your screen – every day no doubt! It’s like a never ending virtual bulletin board. We’re just , pinning up examples of innovative design, sustainability thought leaders, words to live by and colour love (to support our more-than-green mantra!).
Request an invite and let us know when you get going!
Carbon Nation – a documentary for the often neglected Self Serving Non-Believers which according to The SHIFT Report’s Sustainability Passion Index make up 8 percent of the general population.
These folks are distinctly dispassionate about issues that do not affect them directly. Issues such as pollution, global warming and buying environmentally conscious products rank very low in terms of importance. Buying fair trade and local products and services are not important. Instead they rate issues such as connecting with friends and family, leading a balanced life and nurturing personal relationships quite highly. As well as broader issues that could affect them including employee treatment and being paid a living wage.
Carbon Nation is great example of using media to broaden the argument for moving away from fossil fuels and toward a low carbon economy by targeting those that might not be open to hearing traditional green marketing.
In theatres now.
What happens when two disparate parties meet in a bar? The potential for collaboration and positive change according to author of and Terra Choice’s CEO, Scott McDougall.From roots in biology to his current focus on using marketing and business as a lever for positive impact, Scott McDougall has held a long time passion for positive social and environmental change. In our latest Experts Behind the Experts interview, he shares some inspirational nuggets about the importance of optimism, collaboration, the importance of brand trust and how the Sins of Greenwash negatively impact a brand’s trust capital beyond it’s environmental credibility alone. 
An authentic and down to earth thought leader, Scott also addresses some of the conversation in the around the latest Fall 2010 Sins of Greenwash Report that critiqued “Terrachoice’s latest Seven Sins of Greenwashing report not only misses the mark, but has the potential to stifle an important tool for green marketers.” (Article was featured in Sustainable Life Media and written by SLM contributor Jacquie Ottman. For a different perspective on the same report from another Sustainable Life Media contributor, Andrew Winston, click here.)
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Web: www.terrachoice.com | Twitter:
Valentines Day is here to remind about love, humour and consumption (or preferably generosity).
For the humorous – Visit Polluter Harmony! It’s a brand new match making site for polluters, industry lobbyists, & politicians. Check out Peter and Janet’s amazing story of how they found each other.
For the consumption – Sasha Dichter, author of Nonprofit CEO Manifesto, is on a mission to reinvent V-Day to Generosity Day. An idea that is spreading across the internet and into the streets. Sasha offers up many suggestions of how to spread kindness and generosity through out the day and encourages all to share their experiences across twitter (#generosityday) and facebook ().
Our hunch was spot on: people are hungering for something more in their lives – more connection and more meaning.
And for the Love – Scientific American published an article today called ‘Your Brain in Love’ revealing the areas in our brain that ‘light up’ while we experience passionate love, maternal love and unconditional love. There are about 12 small regions, a sort of ‘love network’, that “release neurotransmitters and other chemicals in the brain and blood that prompt greater euphoric sensations such as attraction and pleasure”. These new findings may help to treat those who are suffering from severe heart breaks by adjusting certain chemicals. The article goes on to say:
Passion also heightens several cognitive functions, as the brain regions and chemicals surge.
This line of course grabs my attention because of Ci’s Sustainability Passion Index, a unique segmentation study from The SHIFT Report that looks at the kinds of things that people are passionate or dispassionate about such as: relationships, pollution, spirituality, well-being, food, energy, etc..
What’s interesting is that both The SHIFT Report research and these new findings from the MRI scans offer up similar observations. With greater passion in one’s life comes increased motivation, alertness, pleasure, trust, attachment, attraction and interestingly it also brings increased stress and obsessive thinking.
Philanthropist and thought-leader Kevin Starr’s Pop Tech talk is making me think on all kinds of levels. His 18 minutes on stage seems to fly by at just the right pace, given that he is tackling some seriously large issues. He takes his time which I appreciate. Have a look, you won’t be disappointed:
Starr shares a few simple formulas to help evaluate the potential impact and the actual impact that a organization/project will have on the world. The first formula that he shares helps organizations define their mission statement. He says: Keep it to under eight words and include a verb, a target and an outcome.
It got me to thinking about Ci’s mission statement:
Now just for fun, if I were to take Starr’s formula, we could say Ci’s mission is to:
The most recent SHIFT Report – Defining and Telling Your Brand’s Sustainability Story does exactly this. Diving deep into all areas of sustainability, consumer motivation, marketing channels, sustainable brand characteristics, and more… the report represents a quantified consumer perspective with real world relevance. The report charts and explains what is connecting with the general North American population, and what isn’t, thus revealing opportunities for brands who want to connect with their consumers in a way that is authentic.
Download a summary for free () to see how it might work for your organization. You can purchase the full forty six page report at the SHIFT shop.
The four questions Starr poses in determining whether a project is viable: 1) Is there a need? 2) Does it work? 3) Will it get to those who need it? and 4) Will people use it right? are absolutely brilliant. The next step (besides the successful implementation) is in communicating the idea and its lasting impact. Enter The SHIFT Report.
It is a well known and agreed upon fact that we are exposed and engaged with a steady stream of information every day. It’s a lot. However, the less understood territory of how our brains navigate this stream is gaining ground. This growing body of research into what’s called the Default Mode Network is positing some new theories as to what our brains are actually doing during these so called resting states, or what we call day dreaming. Have a look at this video which illustrates some of these theories:
I’m drawn into this for two reasons:
1 – During my first semester at grad school in our advanced research methods class, our professor actually encouraged us to daydream! This was the first time a figure of authority had called it out as something we all do anyway and especially during lectures on cultural theory… His belief was that during this time our minds were in fact incredibly active and working hard to organize, synthesize and consolidate personal experiences with pieces of historical and contemporary works – i.e. real learning.
2 – The SHIFT Report research is comprehensive but also it is undeniably complex. This is because the issues that make up sustainability are complex. Likewise, the steps that lead people to make decisions and form opinions around social responsibility are complex. They require enormous amounts of energy and attention to form lasting thoughts about what brand X is doing, and what brand Y has done, what they are offering now, and how those offerings might benefit people, planet and the pocket book. The SHIFT Report research shows that 67% of North Americans WANT to know the socially responsible behaviour of the brands they buy. It also shows that 65% are concerned with the overall health and environmental toxins in products today. And yet time and time again when asked if Brand X could be considered socially responsible or not, the answer is ‘I don’t know’.
This might be a leap here… But perhaps if our resting state, or default mode, is as productive as new research is suggesting, and we embrace it, then the personal sustainability projects we’re seeing (sabbath manifesto, do nothing for two minutes, ) will continue to gain more traction. Perhaps our collective awareness of the real and pressing issues (environmental, social, personal and spiritual) will continue to expand and drive this culture shift to sustainability.
So get day dreaming!
There seems to be more and more groups and networks sprouting up across North America that are aligning themselves with spirituality. Faith groups where you’d least expect it for example, Freedom Biker Church. Bikers and church? Really!? I first heard about this on the CBC’s On The Coast in an interview with Chuck Pearce, Pastor and Co-founder, the other morning and I can’t stop thinking about it.
The ministry of Freedom Biker Church represents a place of belonging for those who come. We have worked hard to create a church culture that is relevant to the motorcycle community. A place where folks can grow spiritually in a natural way. Welcome to Freedom!
I think the thing I find most interesting is that essentially, this is a mechanism for fulfilling a desire for belonging and community that exists in everyone, even leather cladded Harley Davidson-riding rough and tough bikers! The fact that this network is growing rapidly is further evidence that people are looking for something to fulfil this unbounded desire. Next month Canada’s first chapter of the “Freedom Biker Church” will start holding services. The SHIFT Report research supports this insight when looking at some of the social and spiritual sustainability issues like ‘community connection’ – important for 87% of the general population, higher purpose in life’ – 73%, and the ‘search for spiritual contentment vs. material contentment’ – 62%.
When looking at this phenomenon across our Sustainability Passion Index (a unique consumer segmentation model from The SHIFT Report that is based on how people define and interact with sustainability), the Pragmatic Believers come to mind immediately. They are distinctly passionate about spiritual issues. Having a higher purpose in life is important to them, yet at the same time they are grounded and focused on what they can achieve. They rate family, friends and community highly, support locally based businesses and volunteer frequently. Price is a major barrier to making betting decisions. Buying organic is not important to them. Climate change is not important to them.
So what can you expect at Freedom Biker Church?
Though each Freedom may be different in style or structure (Some may be more like Baggers while others have more of a Chopper flare), we all share the same passion, realness, and genuine love for motorcycles, and each other. Most of all, we are Full Throttle for Christ’s sake.
Who knew?
In our last newsletter Ci: Soundbite, we wrote about the Sabbath Manifesto as an example of projects promoting personal sustainability. Here’s another one I came across today that I’m thinking of adopting into my plugging in ritual – Do Nothing For Two Minutes. With over 300 000 ‘likes’ on Facebook, Alex Tewy’s latest creation is striking a chord with internet junkies. The idea is simple – the landing page is a serene ocean view with the sound of waves crashing. If you move your mouse or tap the keyboard, the two minute timer starts over. I popped in my email address at the end in anticipation of ’s future tools to aid relaxation.
Spread the calm.
Kierstin’s message – What’s the colour of sustainability? Hint: More than green. – strikes a chord with the Compost Modern community. Check out Dwell Magazine’s Review of the conference also Core77′s article – What’s your sustainability story?
Kierstin 'rocking the invisible mic' at Compost Modern
The folks from At Home with Growing Old (AHWGO) were listening too:
According to Kierstin De West, principle of CI and creator of The Shift Report, community connections are first among our values. The Shift Report is a body of market research revealing what our values are as a culture when it comes to sustainability. To boot, as consumers, we are still foremost concerned with what is built to last, rather than what is necessarily “green” or “local,” although purchasing a local product appears to be more important to us as a nation than purchasing an organic product.
AHWGO is an online discussion forum to promote design solutions for the challenges of an aging society. Their goal is to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue among experts, thinkers, activists and designers on the topic of aging.
Nice to meet you.
The Nike Better World website is a wonderful feat of interaction design. Maybe it’s just because this is the first time I’ve seen this parallax scrolling action, but I keep going back. It is an example of a company who mainly produces shoes and apparel who more often than not raise the bar in their communications efforts by showcasing new techniques and approaches, and doing it really well. In Better World, they paint a broad picture of how the mega-brand is touching and effecting all four pillars of sustainability – environmental, personal, social and even spiritual – all around the world.
The Free TR Fit is designed with a lower environmental impact using environmentally preferred rubber, water-based cementing and recycled polyester. That means every step in the multi-directional flex groove outsole replicates the foot's natural movement and helps women get more out of their workout without leaving a huge environmental footprint.
According to The SHIFT Report, which asks 5000 North Americans, in their opinion, which leading brands are socially responsible or not. Nike, with its big bold statements on making a better world, fared just OK. Thirty one percent of the population credit Nike as a socially responsible company, while sixteen percent said nay. That leaves fifty three percent saying they just don’t know.
It is interesting to consider the resources going into their SR communications and how this gets reflected in cultural awareness and brand trust. It goes to show, it is not easy!
If we know that sixty seven percent of the population want to know about the socially responsible behaviour of the brands they buy, that sixty percent of the population look to overall product design and life cycle, seventy three percent look to whether the product is toxin free when determining whether a product is ‘SR’ or not, it would seem that Nike is on the right path to authentic alignment and engagement.
In Soweto, South Africa, Nike built a football training center so 20,000 young footballers have access to a program that includes high-end training facilities, top-level coaching and HIV education.
Time will tell, and you can bet The SHIFT Report will be tracking it!
Experts Behind the Experts (EbE) is a curated interview series of thought leaders and innovators in the cultural shift to sustainability created and hosted by Ci’s Kierstin De West. It launched October 2010 on Sustainable Life Media.
By looking at that place where your brand (and what it stand for) meets sustainability (as consumers define it: personal, social, spiritual and environmental), we begin to carve out an authentic communications strategy that truly reflects your sustainability initiatives and intentions.
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